Time Travel and Trumpets

By Brother Rabbi Dani'el Rendelman ~ ravemet@comcast.net
of BNAI YAHSHUA SYNAGOGUE OF PROSPERITY, SC

Emet Ministries
www.emetministries.com

ravemet@comcast.net

In 1895 a book was published that brought instant success to author H.G. Wells. The book was titled "The Time Machine" and it became an instant classic. This classic tale is about a man who was obsessed with time travel. The traveler originally wanted his time machine to go back into history. However, when the machine first works, it propels him forward 800,000 years.
The amazing plot continues as the man is befriended by humanoids, battles white ape-like creatures, is attacked by giant crabs, and travels even farther into the future.

The book birthed the science-fiction genre. It was also the first novel to address the concept of time travel.

Time travel? The idea sounds ridiculous. Yet with the many technological advances of our day, many scientists say that traveling back to the future will eventually occur.

Even Einstein thought that time travel was more than just an idea of fiction. It was his theory of relativity that provided scientific evidence that time travel is possible. A 1971 experiment using atomic clocks proved time travel as a reality. Atomic clocks are extremely accurate machines that can measure tiny amounts of time. At the start of the experiment both clocks showed exactly the same time. One clock was set upright on the ground while the other clock was sent around the world on a jet traveling 600 miles per hour. When the second clock returned it showed a different time than the first. Time travel had occurred that day. The scientists were amazed.

Time travel can also occur as we gather to worship the Creator at His set apart times. The holy days found in Leviticus 23 have been given for us to transcend time. Like an ancient time machine, the Holy Days allow believers to experience the past and rehearse the future.

This concept is vividly illustrated by the Hebrew word "miqra," translated "convocations, feasts, or assemblies." Leviticus/Vayikra 23:2, "Speak unto the children of Yisra'el, and say unto them, concerning the feasts of YHWH, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations (miqra)." The ancient Hebrew term miqra conveys the idea of a "dress rehearsal" before an actual play.

Strong's Exhaustive Dictionary defines a miqra as a "a called out, public meeting, a rehearsal, assembly, or reading." The miqra kadosh, or holy convocations, allow us to step back in time in order to prepare for our future. Our ability to learn from our past and plan our future allows us to tap into the will of the Almighty and His plan for our lives.

The Past
When we gather to worship on the appointed times of YHWH we are to look back and learn from the historical events of our past.
Every Shabbat we can remember creation, and the redemption out of Egypt. During Passover we recall the blood covering of the Passover Lamb. Shavuot, commonly called Pentecost, is when the Torah was given and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) was poured out. And the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, reminds us of the 40-year wilderness journey to the Promised Land.

What about Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets?
What is so special about this day?
Interestingly, the Bible refers to this holy day as Yom Zikaron Teruah, the "the day of remembering the sounding of the Shofar." The Rabbis explain to us that during the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah, many wonderful things are to be remembered. They teach that during this time:
• Adam was created
• T he flood waters dried up
• Enoch was taken up (Genesis 5:24)
• Sarah, Rachel, Samuel all were conceived (1 Samuel 1)
• Egyptian slavery of the Hebrews ended
• Job contracted leprosy
• Start of the sacrifices built on the altar by Ezra (Ezra 3:1)

The Feasts illustrate events that have already occurred. They are also spiritual blueprints for things to come .

Our worship inspired time travel is forwards and backwards! To grasp this, one must understand the concept of time. Time is nothing more than the measurement of space between a cause and an effect.

Time is the distance between an action and its corresponding reaction. For example, if a person drops a penny from the top of the Empire State Building, it is only a matter of time/space until that penny hits the ground.

Time is also made up of events that repeat themselves. As Shlomo/ Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." All things are happening at once. To view time as a continual process where all things are occurring "in the now" allows the possibility to breach the constraints of this reality and rise above the present. Or in other words through emunah (trusting faithfulness) we can do time travel!

The Future
"Let no individual man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a moed, or in the Rosh Chodesh, or in the Shabbat days: which are shadows of things to come," Qolesayah / Colossians 216,17a.

This verse clearly teaches that the moadim (feast days) of YHWH are shadows of the future. Some preachers and teachers say that some of these holy days have been "fulfilled" by Messiah. However, the Scriptures say that they are "shadows" of what is ahead. The shadow is seen and experienced before subject is seen. Paul wrote these words after the Messiah had resurrected and ascended, so he was not speaking of the Savior's first coming. The feast days are shadows – pictures of things to come!

The feasts are not the substance but shadows. They haven't been totally fulfilled – they are pictures of what is coming. With Yom Teruah we can see a glimpse of the future and the past. For Messiah "shall descend from the Shamayim (heavens) with a shout, with the voice of the chief heavenly Malach (messenger), and with the shofar and the tekiyah-ge-dolah of YHWH: and the dead in Moshiach shall rise first: Then we who are alive and remain at His return shall be caught up together with them onto the clouds, to meet the Master in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Master," Tesloniqyah Alef / First Thessalonians 4:16&17.

So, some amazing things have happened and are going to happen on Yom Teruah. But, what does YHWH want us to learn from Yom Teruah today?

The Present
First, let's understand that Yom Teruah is also called Yom HaDin, the "day of judgment." While Yom Kippur is a day of atonement and covering, Yom Teruah is the day of judgment.

Yom Teruah is a time of introspection and a day of looking inward. The Rabbis say that on this day, YHWH writes the names of the righteous in a book and then vies the wicked 10 days to return.

The Feast of Trumpets is the first day of the "a seret yemei teshuvah," the ten days of awe that culminate with the Day of Atonement. During the ten days between Trumpets and Kippur we are given some final time to search our hearts for sin and contact those that we have hurt. Our actions during these ten days set the pattern for the upcoming year.

Each year at this time, believers are given a chance to right the wrongs in their lives. This isn't a time to judge our friends or judge our enemies. Yom HaDin is when we should judge ourselves. This is done through considering our actions in prayer.

One Hebrew word for prayer is "tefillah," which literally means, "to judge oneself." This word gives great insight into the true purpose of prayer. "The most important part of any prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise, or of confession, is the introspection it provides. Of greatest importance is the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe. Focused prayer is the way to turn our hearts to YHWH on Yom Teruah.

"Teach us to number/recognize our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom," says Tehillim/Psalm 90:12.

By identifying the sound of the shofar and recognizing the significance of the time at hand we can apply some compelling life-lessons. Remember that it is on Yom Teruah that Adam was created. This is why the Jewish people call Yom Teruah the new year or Rosh Hashanah. While Aviv is the Biblical new year, Teruah or Rosh Hashanah is the new year of the years. Trumpets is the day that the number of the year changes. We are now in the year of 5767 from creation. As Adam was created on the first day of Trumpets, each Yom Teruah is a day that we can allow the second Adam to be re-created in our lives.

Creation and Recreation
Let's quickly review the creation account and the Feast of Trumpets to gain some powerful insights upon this day.

The first two words in the Torah are "Beresheet Aleph," translated "in the beginning." By turning this Hebrew phrase around, to read "aleph b tishrei," we see that on the on the First of Tishrei, or Yom Teruah, man was created. This is how we can reference Yom Teruah as Rosh Hashanah.

Also note that in Genesis, while all other species where created in large number, man was created single. "This tells us that every single person has the potential to fulfill the purpose of creation," wrote Rinah Shalom. Now take these ideas and reread Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

Beresheet / Genesis 1:1-2:3 describes the creation account in generic terms. Then in amazing repetition, the entire creation account is repeated in Genesis 2:3 onward. Why would the Bible be so redundant? Why is the creation story repeated and expanded?

An answer to these questions can be found by reading between the lines.
In the first creation account of Genesis 1:1-2:3 everything is great! The world, the animals, and man are created. YHWH calls his work "tov" or good. Amazingly, there is no fall in the first chapter of Genesis.

However, there is some major drama in the second telling of intelligent design. Go ahead, read these verses and be amazed. The temptation and the fall occur only in the second edition of creation. Perhaps the riddle of the fall of man is to show us the potential of Yom Teruah, the day of creation.

Man was created for the purpose of the Divine. We were made in His image for His purpose. "Thou art worthy, O Master, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created," Revelation 4:11.

The book of Colossians also speaks of this "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and FOR him."

Every year at Yom Teruah we are to be reminded of how creation should have been. We can also perceive the promise of tomorrow.

YHWH made us for His tov pleasure. When sin entered the world during the second creation story, man was cut off from fellowship with YHWH. " Your sins have separated you from your Elohim, your sins have hidden His face from you," Yesha'yahu / Isaiah 59:2. Yom Teruah gives us the opportunity to go back in time to the Garden of Eden. Through our actions during these holy days we can rewrite our future. We can change our habits and change our future. Now is the time to give direction to your life. For the way you begin the new year, will determine the remaining year.

Intimacy with the Creator is the promise of Yom Teruah. For on this day and the days that follow, including Yom Kippur and Sukkot, we can experience the closeness of the Garden of Eden. Through prayer, judging ourselves, teshuvah, and trusting in the atoning work of Messiah, our fellowship is restored as we re-create creation. Time travel is taking place as our lives change for the better.